Wednesday, July 5, 2017

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today granted an injunction to the Selangor government to stop the Election Commission (EC) from submitting its redelineation report to the prime minister.

Justice Azizul Azmi Adnan said he granted the order because the EC did not disagree with Selangor government's interpretation of section 8 of the 13th schedule of the federal constitution.

"That there can only be one report to the prime minister and that report can only be issued when inquiries on the redelineation exercise for all states of Malaya are completed.

"No report can be given to the prime minister which excludes the state of Selangor," said Justice Azmi.

The Selangor government in October last year, filed a judicial review application to stop the redelineation exercise.

Justice Azizul then allowed a stay on the local inquiries in Selangor pending the state government's court challenge.

Earlier during the hearing today, senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan, representing the EC, admitted that the redelineation report cannot be finalised unless the redelineation exercise is completed in Selangor as well.

Asked by Azizul whether he was conceding to the injunction, Shamsul, however, argued that the report was not even available.

"What is there to injunct?" he insisted, to laughter from the bemused audience in the packed courtroom comprising of mostly PKR supporters.

The Selangor government, last month, had also filed an injunction application to stop the EC from conducting the second inquiry in the redelineation exercise in West Malaysia until its legal challenge is decided by the court.

Justice Azizul made no ruling on this.

Meanwhile, Azmin in an immediate response to the judge's decision hailed it as "huge victory".

"This is a huge victory for the people of Selangor, where the state government had defended their right, as well as the right of other states, because the EC cannot submit any report until the (redelineation) process is completed in Selangor," he said.- Mkini